THE STATUS OF WOMEN IN INDIA - PART II

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 NEW DELHI 001749 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA/INS, DRL, PASS TO SECRETARY RICE, U/S HUGHES, U/S/ BURNS, U/S DOBRIANSKY, AND DEPUTY SECRETARY NEGROPONTE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL PINR SOCI KWMN IN SUBJECT: THE STATUS OF WOMEN IN INDIA - PART II REF: A. NEW DELHI 1653 ¶B. NEW DELHI 1032 ¶C. 06 NEW DELHI 7199 ¶D. NEW DELHI 1401 ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: This is the second in a two part series on the status of women in India. This cable is derived from Post's ongoing analysis of the issues facing women as well as conversations with politicians, think tanks, NGO activists, pundits, and government officials during Senior Advisor to the Secretary of State on Women's Empowerment, Ambassador Shirin Tahir-Kheli's visit to New Delhi. The first part of this series (reftel A) outlined the progress that has been made toward protecting women in Indian society. In addition, it highlighted the ongoing struggle with implementation and enforcement of laws and the continued fight to end female feticide and dowry deaths. Part II (this cable) deals with trafficking in persons, the inability of many women to access education, jobs, and health care and the overlay of caste and class. END SUMMARY. Trafficking in Persons -------------- ¶2. (SBU) India is a significant source, transit point, and destination for many thousands of trafficked women. On March 23, National Commission for Women's (NCW) Girija Vyas spoke of trafficking of women and children both within India and from external sources. According to Vyas, there is currently a flow of Eastern European women to India for prostitution. Within India, the low male/female ratio resulting from female feticide encourages families in Punjab and Haryana to import brides from Bihar and other Northeastern states to marry their boys. These women are often mistreated as they do not speak the local language and can be easily manipulated. (Note: India, however, is marching towards progress, for more information, see India,s 2007 TIP report (reftel B) End Note). Marriage Fraud Among the Diaspora -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Vyas and the NCW described a relatively new racket that subjugates and marginalizes women. Some non-residence Indians (NRIs) marry in India, although they already have a wife or girlfriend in the U.S. The new bride is then abandoned upon arrival in the US, UK or elsewhere. Vyas said that this practice is occurring wherever Indians have migrated. The NCW is collaborating with Indian associations in the UK to raise awareness about this practice and assist with recourse for the women who find themselves in the lurch. Vyas is looking for possible partners in the US to participate in a similar process. Minister for Women and Child Development Renuka Chowdhary had previously raised her concerns about hoodwinked brides with the Embassy (reftel C). Promoting Democracy Bilaterally And Multilaterally -------------- ¶4. (SBU) On March 21 and 22, Ambassador Tahir-Kheli met GOI officials, including the Prime Minister's Media Advisor Sanjaya Baru and Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon. Both Baru and Menon agreed that more could and should be done for women. Menon added that &women's empowerment is an essential element for democracies in transition.8 As women's empowerment is an issue of democracy promotion, Baru requested an update on the UN Democracy Fund. (Note: There are two programs currently funded in India under this program: Center for Social Research and ActionAid. Both projects engage women to become more politically active and provides them with the necessary skills to do so. To date, NEW DELHI 00001749 002 OF 005 however, both projects are still waiting for their grant money before beginning their work. Any further information from the Department on the holdup would be welcomed and appreciated. End Note.) ¶5. (SBU) On March 23, Kiran Bedi, Director General, Bureau for Police Research and Development highlighted the Indian All Women's Police Unit sent to Liberia to work alongside UN Peacekeepers (reftel D). Though she met initial resistance to creating such a unit, it is now recognized as another success story. Bedi believes India can train other countries to mobilize similar units that can work both domestically or as part of international efforts. ¶6. (SBU) On March 23, Ambassador Tahir-Kheli met with NGOs working with USAID through their Women's Legal Rights Initiative Project. The Mission,s Women,s Legal Rights Initiative (WLRI) focuses on gender based violence including dowry, domestic violence and female feticide and rights within the family (such as property rights and maintenance) in Rajasthan and in Karnataka. At the national level, the program supports advocacy for legal and institutional reform through WomenPowerConnect (WPC),a national level coalition lobbying district and national governments. WPC has five state chapters and more than 450 members across India. WLRI in partnership with grassroots NGOs is creating support systems in the two states to provide legal knowledge, counseling, mediation and representation services to vulnerable women and communities. The program has developed and expanded community based approaches to dispute resolution, worked to change the attitudes of men and boys, trained medical doctors, statutory bodies, religious leaders and public prosecutors and targeted state and national level reforms. A specially designed program disseminates information on Muslim women,s rights as enshrined in the Holy Quran and the Indian constitution. WLRI is also linking women to livelihood enhancement opportunities. As a result of these programs, there are many anecdotal success stories in which women recognize the power of working collectively to demand and force the police to take action in instances of domestic violence. Education and Health -------------- ¶7. (SBU) India has been a major seat of learning for thousands of years and the GOI has expressed a strong commitment toward education for all. Currently, 30 percent of seats in engineering, medical and other colleges are reserved for women. However, India still has one of the lowest female literacy rates in Asia. The gap in male-female literacy rates is 21.70 percent, according to the 2001 census. Low literacy levels have a negative impact on the lives of women and their families in addition to their country,s economic development. Numerous studies show a strong correlation between high levels of female illiteracy, high fertility and mortality levels, poor nutritional status, low earning potential, and low household autonomy. A woman,s lack of education has been shown to contribute to high infant mortality rates. ¶8. (SBU) The barriers against women,s education include insufficient school facilities, not enough classrooms, and inadequate latrines and access to water. There are also deeply-held social beliefs against female education. Many families continue to regard male education as an investment guaranteeing future economic returns. On the other hand, investing in girl,s education is deemed an immediate economic loss that deprives the household of a loyal and unpaid helper. In rural India, because girls are married and sent to another house, investing in their education is not NEW DELHI 00001749 003 OF 005 considered a viable option. ¶9. (SBU) Although female life expectancy (currently 65) has gradually improved over the years, it remains lower than many other countries. In many families, especially in rural India, girls and women face nutritional discrimination with the family. Only 42 percent of births in the country are supervised by health professionals. Most women deliver with help from female family members who often lack the skills and resources to ensure a safe birth. According to 2007 data, India accounts for over 20 percent of the world,s maternal deaths at a rate of 408 deaths/100,0000 live births. ¶10. (SBU) The average Indian woman has little control over her own fertility and reproductive health. Women in rural areas in particular do not have access to safe and self-controlled methods of contraception. The public health system emphasizes permanent methods like sterilization, or long-term methods like IUDs that do not need follow-up. Some studies suggest that sterilization accounts for more than 75 percent of total contraception, with female sterilization measured around 67 percent (compared to 9 percent for males). Workforce Participation -------------- ¶11. (SBU) Women in India are now more likely to participate in traditionally male dominated industries. According to Kiran Bedi, more women now serve in the armed forces and the police. She described a jump in female recruitment onto the police force, and she noted the important role of Jayalalitha, former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, in boosting numbers of police recruits in Southern India. Bedi also underscored the presence of women police officers in rural areas helps women address specific problems such as female feticide and domestic violence. According to Bedi, women police officers have a "healing but tough hand" that can bridge gaps between certain segments of society more easily than their male counterparts. ¶12. (SBU) More women are not only serving in entry level government positions, they are occupying high level, decision making roles in government. At the national level, several interlocutors pointed to the leadership of Congress President Sonia Gandhi. Further, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who ruled from 1966-1977, was the second woman in the world to serve as Prime Minister, after Sirimavo Bandaranaike in Sri Lanka. At the local level, one third of panchayat seats (village local governments) have been reserved for women since 1992, enabling over a million women to enter political life in India. In Ambassador Tahir-Kheli's meetings with Deputy Chairperson of the Planning Commissioner, Montek Singh Ahluwalia on March 21 and Delhi Chief Minister, Sheila Dixit on March 22, they dismissed critics who argue that women holding panchayat seats merely reflect their husbands, positions. They argued that the newly empowered women leaders come to value their own voice and eventually instigate change. To support this conclusion, Montek Singh Ahluwalia cited a recent MIT study which found that women leaders in panchayats matter, noting that many women panchayat members invest local funds toward health, education, and water projects. Alternatively, male leaders direct funding toward construction of meeting and community halls. Dixit and Punjab Member of Parliament Praneet Kaur echoed Ahulwalia's comments, adding that they expect to see these women rise to national level politics. Ahluwalia, Dixit, and Kaur all expressed confidence and pride in the reservation system, suggesting it could serve as a model for other countries. (Note: Nationally, however, a bill to give women one-third representation in Parliament has been stalled NEW DELHI 00001749 004 OF 005 for a decade. End Note.) ¶13. (SBU) These efforts do not stop at the local level. Since 2005, the Finance Minister, with the Prime Minister's support, does not release funds to the Ministries unless they demonstrate that they are allocating 20 percent of their overall Ministerial budgets to programs that support women. Such programs include efforts to raise maternal mortality under the Health Ministry or the Human Resource Development Ministry,s programs to raise female literacy rates. ¶14. (SBU) Some of the world,s leading businesswomen are Indian. In 2006, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, who started Biocon, one of India's first biotech companies, was rated India's richest woman. Lalita Gupte and Kalpana Morparia (the only businesswomen in India who made the Forbes World's Most Powerful Women's List) run India's second-largest financial institution, ICICI Bank. Contrary to common perception, a large percent of women in India work. National data collection agencies verify that womens, contribution as workers has been underestimated. However, there are far fewer women are in the paid workforce. In rural India, agriculture and allied industrial sectors employ as much as 89.5 percent of total female labor. Women's average contribution to farm production is estimated at 55 - 66 percent of the total. According to a 1991 World Bank report women accounted for 93 percent of the total employment in dairy production in India and 51 percent of the total employed in forest-based small-scale enterprises. ¶15. (SBU) However, the earnings gap remains enormous. Women's average annual earned income was 1,471 USD in 2002, almost one third of men (4,723 USD). In addition, sexual harassment, known as "eve teasing," is also reportedly on the rise as more women enter the work force. Half of the total number of crimes against women reported in 1990 related to molestation and harassment at the workplace. In 1987, the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act was passed to prohibit indecent representation of women through advertisement or in publications, writings, paintings, figures or in any other manner. ¶16. (SBU) In 1997, in a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court took a strong stand against sexual harassment of women in the workplace by presenting detailed guidelines for prevention and redress of grievances. The NCW subsequently elaborated these guidelines into a Code of Conduct for employers. COMMENT -------------- ¶17. (SBU) In India, nothing is easy and it is impossible to generalize. All of the aforementioned concerns are complicated by caste, class, religion, and corruption, which still sharply compromise societal and legal efforts to improve the lot of Indian women and range over issues as diverse as access to land and property, the right to obtain a divorce or be divorced, and to be treated with dignity and respect. For example, in February 2007, a UN committee equated violence against Dalits in India with racial discrimination. Reports produced by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination found systemic abuse against Dalits, including torture and extra-judicial killings, and an "alarming" rate of sexual violence against Dalit women. There are several reports of Dalit women stripped naked by mobs and paraded in public for offending higher castes. The media often documents upper caste gangs using mass rape to intimidate lower castes, and gang rape as punishment for alleged adultery or as a means of coercion or revenge in rural property disputes. Although the GOI banned the practice of sati, in which Hindu women throw themselves NEW DELHI 00001749 005 OF 005 on the funeral pyre of their deceased husband, the practice persists. Honor killings also remain a problem, predominantly in Muslim and Hindu communities. Furthermore, a strong belief in mythology and the supernatural in rural India has been used against women. In 2006, for example, informal courts passed death sentences on women, labeling them witches. The Assam police are now working with NGOs to raise awareness of these problems. ¶18. (SBU) While the picture is far from rosy, good things are happening for India,s women. The NGO community, civil society and the media are vibrant, active and gaining traction in a national dialogue on women,s rights. As with any movement that must overcome centuries of tradition, it will require several generations of concentrated efforts and national dedication to fully integrate women into all aspects of society. Opportunities exist for Indo-U.S. bilateral and multilateral collaboration. Framed by Secretary Rice's four pillars of women,s empowerment -- political participation, economic empowerment, education, and justice issues -- Post will continue to work with Ambassador Tahir-Kheli's office and our Indian counterparts to deepen, broaden and strengthen the ongoing efforts to promote women's empowerment. END COMMENT MULFORD